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No. 70 



INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS 



THE NEW AND MORE GLORIOUS FOURTH 

Luther H. Gulick, M. D. 

AN AMERICAN HOLIDAY 

William Orr 

A FOURTH OF JULY WITHOUT FIREWORKS 

Ladies' Home Journal 

HOW ONE TOWN SPENDS THE FOURTH 

Inez J. Gardner 

CELEBRATING THE FOURTH IN LARGE CITIES 

Lee F. Hanmer 




Published by the 

Department of Child Hygiene of the 

Russell Sage Foundation 

I Madison Avenue, New York City 



SEP 



The New and More Glorious Fourth* 

A METHOD OF CELEBRATING THE NATIONAL 
HOLIDAY WHICH IS SIGNIFICANT OF ITS ORIGIN 

By Luther H. Gulick 

President of the Playground Association of America 

This day presents a great opportunity of helping to make our 
nation a people. We are a nation, because we have one govern- 
ment. We are not a people, partly because as yet we possess 
no adequate social language. (By social language, I mean form 
of expressing social ideals in action. No better illustration of 
this can be given than the difference between the idea of the 
Fourth of July and the way we observe, it. Our great cities are 
pretty largely mere aggregations of peoples from different parts 
of the world, having come together under common laws and 
government. If there is any one thing, any one occasion, in 
connection with which there should be national community 
expression, it should be in connection with our celebration of 
American independence.) This constitutes not only the pivotal 
point in the history of American institutions, but is the pivotal 
idea upon which democracy rests. Our celebrations of the day, 
however, do not relate in any distinctive way to the idea which 
is to be commemorated. We do not use the day as a great focal 
point for community life, for asserting the belief that is in us, 
for getting together and expressing our common feeling, our 
community feeling, for freedom under a democracy. We have 
relatively little to do together. We and our children both 
purchase fireworks and explode them during the day with the 
result that between one thousand and fifteen hundred children 
are mutilated annually. Many people leave the city for the 
Fourth because of the annoyance of the noise. The day is worse 
than wasted. What was meant to perpetuate a great idea has 
become a menace. We shall become a people, not only when we 
have a common social language but when a larger community 
consciousness develops, when we are proud or ashamed of our 

* Reprinted from the "World's Work," July, 1909. 
I 



community life, when it hurts us if our streets are dirty, or our 
government of doubtful honesty. We shall become a people 
when each fraction of the total population, so much of which is 
foreign in our big cities, has something so definite in common with 
the rest that it feels that it belongs not merely to the voting 
population but to the social community. We shall become a 
people when in our times of rejoicing we come together and ex- 
press those feelings which are given to us, in ways that are mu- 
tually intelligible and happy. 

We have all been feeling that something different should be 
done on the Fourth of July, but it has remained for Springfield, 
Mass., Detroit, Mich., and certain other American cities to show 
how the day should be made not merely one of safety to life and 
limb for the children but how those larger social ideals could at 
the same time be added. I shall speak more particularly of 
Springfield, Mass., for of the work there I chance to know more 
than of that elsewhere. There the day has become one which, 
apparently, all the people of all nationalities look forward to 
with joy. The public schools prepare their children to march in 
a great parade. The children feel that it is their day even more 
than in the old days of individual celebration. Each nationality 
for weeks before the Fourth of July has been preparing some 
demonstration which shall represent a feature of the life of the 
people from which they spring, and which indicates some idea 
that is germane to the day. The English, for example, pre- 
sented the signing of the Magna Charta. In this great parade, 
there were thirteen nationalities represented. The Greeks 
presented characters from ancient Grecian history, and thereafter 
the Greeks held their heads higher in that city because they were 
recognized as "belonging" in a way they never had been before. 
The history of Italy gave the Italians ample material with which 
to present a splendid float, which showed them as men and not 
as "dagoes"; so they, too, belong. The Chinese laundrymen 
united and had a parade. No people preserve their own inde- 
pendent life more tenaciously than do the Chinese, but their 
participation in the festival of this city has done more than any- 
thing else to make them feel that they are a part of the com- 
munity life with those about them; so they, too, belong. 

The school children march, some representing features of 
American history which they have studied. This year, through 
the cooperation of some of the city societies, there will be, as an 



integral part of the parade, representations of the different phases 
of American industry. This splendid parade, which included 
the children and adults, the city government, the nationalities of 
which the city was composed — the history of the city — ^brought 
the people together as they had never come together. It de- 
veloped a feeling of oneness, of belonging together, which was 
new. As they all came to the centre of the square in front of 
the courthouse, they sang together, being led by half a dozen 
brass bands playing in unison. In the afternoon, there were 
great athletic sports of the picnic variety held in the different 
parks of the city. These games were not so much those in which 
there were few contestants and large audiences, as games in 
which a large number, especially children, took part. The 
parks, with which Springfield is so well provided, were filled 
with picnic parties all day. There were, also, water sports on 
the Connecticut River. This year there is to be a great mass 
meeting in the evening with an address on "Independence", 
which shall drive home to all the people, in words with the self- 
same meaning, the idea which has been impressed in action 
throughout the day. 

By this means, Springfield has, by constructive rather than 
restrictive measures, won her day and is winning her city con- 
sciousness. The children have their fireworks, but they have 
them under safe conditions. And they have what is better than 
fireworks. Throughout the day, they are occupied so busily by 
things which are more interesting than fireworks that the fire- 
cracker has slipped back into its normal and legitimate place. 
It is not enough to restrict the use of explosives. "Thou shalt 
not" has its place, but its place is limited as compared with the 
place of the custom we have been considering. 

Any community can save its children and its day by such 
measures as these. The great need is for leaders and united 
action. An individual acting alone is helpless. Let a few earnest 
men and women unite and form an Independence Day committee. 
Secure the cooperation of the city authorities and such general 
civic bodies as boards of trade, chambers of commerce, mer- 
chants' associations, and, having the cooperation of the school 
board, the park board, the police board, they will have relatively 
little difficulty in finding suitable plans, or in securing the rela- 
tively small amount of money that is needed. In many places, 
the city government itself is about ready for action, as is indi- 



cated by personal correspondence which I have already in my 
possession from the mayors of many American cities. The daily 
press can be relied on, for none realize better than newspaper 
people the damage which has been done, and the good which 
has been missed by failure to use the day as one in which to 
arouse the civic consciousness. Fourth of July does not stand 
alone in presenting an opportunity for community recreation and 
the celebration of the festival spirit. We have many holidays 
and other occasions which demand social expression, but the 
Fourth of July gives us the most dramatic point of attack. The 
need is so obvious, the solution is already so well in sight, that 
this is the first and most important position to attack. If 
it is true that we remember those we play with more fully, and 
feel more at one with them, than we do with those who are 
associated with us in the domain of daily labor, then it seems as 
if it were also true that there is no way in which a community can 
be brought together and made to feel and act as a unit so well 
as by playing together. It is quite natural that this should be 
so, for we can choose those with whom we play to a far greater 
extent than we can those with whom we work. Further than 
this, we can choose what we shall play far more readily than 
how we shall work. That is, freedom is greater in play than in 
work. Now, playing together means a carnival or a festival. 
The festival differs from the carnival in that the festival is usually 
a representation of some idea as such, or to celebrate some oc- 
casion which has meaning, while the carnival is, in the main, a 
day of joy-making of any kind whatever. The festival lends 
itself to civic purposes, to community action, and to art form 
better than does the carnival. We, of all the peoples of the 
earth, have no genuine festivals. We need them because we are 
becoming a nation of cities, and, if our cities are to be whole- 
some, we must understand each other, like each other, and have 
things to do together which shall express our common feelings, 
our common ideals, and our social community. 



An American Holiday* 

By William Orr 

Principal of Central High School, Springfield, Massachusetts 

Some six years ago a New England city awoke to the fact 
that the great national holiday, July Fourth, because of the 
unrestrained and excessive use of fireworks and explosives and 
accompanying acts of hoodlumism, had become a menace to 
life and property and a positive public evil. The citizens of this 
town, Springfield, Massachusetts, with the local initiative so 
characteristic of the Bay State, thereupon began to devise ways 
and means of organizing a community celebration devoid of 
objectionable features. A representative committee was selected 
to plan for a day of popular recreation and entertainment. 

While the initial impulse was the wish to do away with noise, 
danger, and riot, the committee soon came to see a large oppor- 
tunity in the enlistment of the energy and ingenuity of all 
elements of the population in making the day a true civic festival, 
and in shaping the events to uplift and widen the aspirations of 
the people. With this ideal as a guide, July Fourth has taken 
on a new meaning, and is now a factor of no small importance in 
promoting a vigorous and progressive community spirit. 

In a large way, the policy of the Independence Day Committee 
has been twofold: gradually to restrict the indiscriminate use 
of fireworks and explosives; and to provide, under definite con- 
trol, extensive and varied entertainment. 

The program followed last year embodied the results of 
many experiments and much experience, and by its success and 
influence showed that Springfield had found a way of making our 
chief American holiday an occasion of real significance. At nine 
o'clock in the morning the two principal streets were lined with 
spectators of the civic and military parade. 

A truly festival aspect pervaded the entire town. Business 
blocks and private houses were gay with colors and bunting, 
and at certain selected centers local decoration and illumination 
committees were busy hanging lanterns and otherwise preparing 
for the displays of the evening. The procession well befitted 
such a setting. It was one of the most notable and significant 
parades in the history of the city. In accordance with the 
* Reprinted from the "Atlantic Monthly," June, 1909. 



thought of the organizers of the day's celebration, the long 
column represented many elements of the population, and con- 
stituted an object lesson in the value of human liberty and the 
meaning of American citizenship. 

There were the usual features of the police detail to lead the 
way; the local militia and naval reserve; and by courtesy of 
Colonel W. F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill") the most interesting groups 
of his "Wild West Show", a picturesque setting forth of the life 
of the Plains and Frontier and of the armies of foreign countries. 
But three divisions of the parade were especially noteworthy. 
First of these was a battalion of nearly one thousand boys, of 
ages from ten to fourteen, organized in companies, one for each 
ward, and arrayed in special uniforms of khaki, red, white, and 
blue, and other picturesque colors, and armed with wooden guns. 
They marched sturdily over the entire route, despite the drizzling 
rain that for the first quarter of an hour gave some discomfort 
to spectators and participants. 

In another section were floats made up by the grammar- 
school children as a pageant illustrative of local and national 
history. Such scenes as an Indian village, a group of Puritan 
maidens, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and 
Washington crossing the Delaware, were presented in a way that 
showed careful study of costumes, persons, and situations on the 
part of the actors, and made real the stirring events of colonial 
and revolutionary times to the people who looked on. 

Most impressive and significant was the contribution of the 
various races and nationaHties that help make up the citizenship 
of Springfield. In a population of 80,000, representatives of 
thirteen peoples were found who by their interest, enthusiasm, 
and public spirit furnished the climax of the parade. Three 
great divisions of the human family appeared in this pageant of 
the nations; in the ranks were the offspring of four continents, 
Europe, Asia, Africa, America. Chinamen, Ethiopians, Eng- 
lish, Scotch, Irish, French, Germans, Italians, Greeks, Swedes, 
Poles, Armenians, and Syrians strove, in cordial emulation, to 
show the characteristic qualities of each people, and the con- 
tribution each was making to American life. 

Sweden presented a Viking ship, true to the smallest detail, 
with Leif Ericson catching his first gHmpse of this continent. 
Mary Queen of Scots, in all the splendor and romance of her 
court, with maids of honor and highland chiefs, and heralded 



7 

by two pipers, was the contribution of the land of Wallace, Bruce, 
and Prince Chariie. Two floats were provided by the German 
societies: the Schiitzenverein showed a fine scene from the life 
of William Tell, while the Maennerchor and Tumverein, in 
thorough Teutonic fashion, had an allegorical group, the figures 
of Germania and Columbia, attended by Art, Literature, and 
Music. With a view to the three hundredth anniversary of the 
founding of Quebec, the French, who are of Canadian descent, 
portrayed Champlain landing from his canoe on the St. Lawrence. 
A band of Chinese musicians came on from New York to repre- 
sent their nation, while in addition their resident countrymen 
furnished a richly decorated oriental float for the parade, and in 
the evening a display of Chinese fireworks. Italy made a most 
effective and artistic group of her great men, Dante, Michel- 
angelo, Galileo, Columbus, Verdi, and Marconi, with heralds and 
pages in advance, the whole like a scene out of some Florentine 
spectacle of the times of the Medici. After the same fashion, the 
local Greeks presented four figures, Pericles, Lycurgus, Socrates, 
and Plato, attended by a marching battaHon of fifty young 
Hellenes, each carrying his country's banner, and all uniting in 
bearing along a huge American flag. Armenia recalled her early 
glories as an independent nation in a rich setting of the throne 
and court of Abgar, her first Christian king. A conference in an 
eastern smoking-room was presented with great realism as the 
contribution of the Syrians. Lovers of the Celtic and Gaelic 
found satisfaction in the setting of St. Columcille pleading for 
the Bards before King Aodh, monarch of all Ireland, in the 
year 590. Negro veterans of the Civil War brought in a touch 
of American history in their presentation of the attack on Bat- 
tery Wagner, when the colored race, under the leadership of 
Robert Gould Shaw, proved for all time its title to manhood. 
Poland had in line a battalion, forty-five strong, accompanied 
by a Polish band. 

There was a singular fitness and deep meaning in the English 
float: the signing of Magna Charta, a document that in the 
struggle for human liberty must forever be placed alongside the 
Declaration of Independence, even as the flags of England and 
America were entwined over the scene in the pageant. Much 
to their regret, the Jewish people were unable to take part in 
this festival of humanity from the fact of the day being their 
Sabbath. They are enthusiastic in their plans for next year. 



8 

The impression and value of this pageant of the nations is well 
stated by Mary Vida Clark in "Charities and the Commons": — 

"Surely no citizen of Springfield, young or old, could see 
such a historic pageant of races and nationalities without gaining 
some appreciation of the nature of the modem contribution to 
our national life, or could escape having his outlook broadened 
by some glimpse of the America of the future that is to come out 
of this mingling of races and race-ideals, or could fail to see the 
great possibilities for improvement in the amalgamation of many 
of these people bringing traditions of such beauty'' and nobility. 

"It is no small benefit to us, and to these newer fellow 
citizens of ours, that they should have a chance to exhibit their 
heroic side, to show us their nationality as it looks to them, 
rather than as it is caricatured by our provincialism. It does 
the intolerant young American no harm to be reminded that the 
ancestors of his Greek and Italian schoolmates may have dwelt 
in marble halls, while his were naked savages, roaming the woods, 
even though he has a personal preference for the naked savage. 
Such a Fourth of July carries to the whole community the mes- 
sage that the settlements, with their industrial exhibits and their 
revivals of the classical dramas, have so long been dinning into 
the ears of those 'who have ears to hear'." 

As the parade returned to Court Square, the civic center, the 
people were assembling for the next numbers on the program, 
— choral singing, and literary exercises. Three bands were 
massed, and with this accompaniment, under the leadership of a 
prominent musical director, the multitude joined in full-throated 
chorus in rendering national hymns and folk-songs. A selection 
of such music had been printed and five thousand copies dis- 
tributed. The result was a revelation of the possibilities of this 
form of expression of sentiment and emotion. Then came a 
scholarly and forceful address on the responsibility of the people 
in the solution of our national problems, by a talented young 
son of Springfield. 

Meanwhile, a short distance away, two balloons were in 
preparation for an ascension. At the close of the speaking came 
more singing, and as the first balloon rose into the air, the great 
throng burst forth, as with one voice, into the strains of "My 
Country, 'tis of Thee". Thus the morning exercises came to a 
fitting close and climax as the cannon from the Arsenal thundered 
out the national salute of forty-six guns. 

In the afternoon the scene of the celebration shifted to the 



open glades of Forest Park. Family groups resorted to this 
pleasant woodland to enjoy picnics and the band music. The. 
park extends to the Connecticut River, and its slopes leading 
down to that stream made a convenient view-point for those 
who were interested in the regatta and water sports. The 
children, whose natural instincts lead them to play on such 
occasions, were organized for the time in a series of charming 
games from which the participants carried off as souvenirs small 
American flags. 

Athletic contests on track and field, and the river sports, 
with a great variety of races for many kinds of craft, occupied 
the attention of youth and young men. By this distribution of 
events, people were widely scattered, and a congestion of street- 
car traffic prevented. 

As evening drew on, the city became a veritable fairyland, 
so general and skillful was the illumination. Four centers^were 
selected for the display of fireworks, and each given in care of a 
local committee. Myriads of Japanese lanterns lined the ap- 
proaches to these open spaces. Main Street was aglow with 
vari-colored lights, and while the last rockets and bombs were 
flashing in the sky, a wearied, but satisfied and happy community 
turned homeward for rest and slumber. 

Such is Springfield's realization of a community festival. 
Her general committee, which has the entire program in 
charge, is continued from year to year, and has always been able 
to command the interested services of capable business and 
professional men. Many hours are given to planning and or- 
ganizing the celebration. A poptdar subscription places at the 
disposal of the committee about $3000, and the city council 
usually makes an appropriation of $500. This fund meets the 
expenses of parade, bands, balloon ascension, choral singing, 
literary exercises, sports, games, fireworks, and the illumination 
of Main Street and Court Square. Private expenditures for deco- 
ration, and special displays, largely increase the total amount 
spent. Many of the participants in the parade of nations met 
their own expenses. 

Public interest was enlisted by a thorough use of the news 
columns for the two months before the day. The papers were 
most generous in the space and' attention they gave to all items 
about the plans for the celebration. A few days before the 
Fourth a complete detailed program was distributed to every 
home in the city. It is safe to say that by the morning of In- 



10 

dependence Day every man, woman and child was familiar with 
the order of events. This widespread interest and general par-' 
ticipation contributed largely to the success of the festival. 

While the riot of noise and explosion has not yet ceased, 
there has been a sensible decrease in the disposition to make 
July Fourth a day of license. Restrictive measures are now 
more rigid, and are better enforced. This year accidents were 
few and not serious, and the fire department had practically an 
idle day. The small boy was busy with his preparations for the 
parade, and in enjoying the various attractions provided by the 
committee. Wholesome and delightful entertainment was so 
general that the mischief-maker had small opportunity, and 
little time. Most important of all, however, is the growing 
conviction and sentiment of the community that the proper 
celebration of a national holiday is one where a festal spirit 
dominates and controls. 

It is evident from the comments of the press on the present 
evils of our Fourth of July that there is urgent need of a definite 
control and wise direction of the popular use of this holiday. 
The roll of dead and wounded for the last ten years, as compiled 
by the Chicago Tribune, is eloquent in its warning. The figures 
tell their own story of an insensate and reckless abuse of the day's 
privileges : — 

Dead Wounded 

1908 72 2736 

1907 58 3807 

1906 51 3551 

1905 59 3169 

1904 58 3049 

1903 52 3665 

1902 31 2796 

1901 35 1803 

1900 59 2767 

1899 33 1742 

508 29,085 

That these statistics, gathered by July 6, are below the real 
totals is seen from the tabulations of the Journal of the American 
Medical Association, made in August, when tetanus has had time 
to do its dire work: — 

Dead Wounded Total (Tetanus) 

1908 163 5460 5623 55 

1907 164 4249 4413 62 

1906 158 5308 5466 75 

1905 182 4994 5176 87 

1904 183 3986 4169 91 

1903 466 3983 4449 406 

Totals 1316 27,980 29,296 776 



II 



Surely the sorrow, suffering, and mutilation here represented 
mock the claim that our July Fourth, as at present observed, is 
in any sense a festal day; rather is it a day of terror, anxiety 
and dread. High-power explosives, unknown a generation ago, 
are put into the hands of irresponsible children, and of brutal 
and careless rowdies, to use without let or hindrance. The 
ordinary safeguards against danger to life, and damage to prop- 
erty, are withdrawn. Such a state of affairs reveals a serious 
weakness in our social organization, since our communities do not 
know how to enjoy themselves in sane and rational fashion. 
Here is a field for educating the people, rich in possibilities 
of far-reaching results, on our national characteristics. 

From many cities there come protests and warnings against 
present conditions, and the expression of a desire for better 
things. Cleveland, through her city council, has prohibited all 
use of fireworks and explosives by individuals. The New York 
Tribune, in its comments on the action of Cleveland, says, " In 
a land which has not yet learned to celebrate its memories 
fittingly, tetanus is only one of the many arguments for the 
Springfield example." Mere repression will, in the long run, not 
be effective. It is necessary to recognize and satisfy the natural 
instinct of men for spectacles and pleasurable excitement. Let 
the resources of music, beauty in form and color, oratory, ath- 
letic contests, games and plays, and stately pageantry with 
wealth of historic allusion, be used with judgment and good 
taste to make a popular festival ! 

For it must be recognized that the present frenzy for noise, 
explosives and unearthly din and rattle is an attempt to ex- 
press, in superficial fashion, emotions in themselves most de- 
sirable. The spirit of Independence Day, while it has much 
that is crude and shallow, is, in essence; joy in liberty, sympathy 
with the struggles of humanity for freedom, and aspiration for 
world-wide brotherhood. But as the child and savage, in times 
of excitement and emotional exaltation, resort to gaudy colors, 
hideous decorations, shrieks and howls, and the squeak, rattle 
and din of instruments, called musical only by courtesy, so our 
people, in the mass, have yet to learn how to express adequately, 
and with good taste, patriotic fervor and enthusiasm for hu- 
manity. It is also a well-known psychological law that, as the 
art of expression is cultivated, the feelings grow fine, deep, rich 
and true. 



Europe abounds in illustrations of public holidays that are 
truly festal. The art of celebration has been studied and prac- 
tised there for many generations, and has gathered to itself the 
resources of drama, music, legend, history, the sanctity of re- 
ligious ceremonial, and the dignity of devotion to the fatherland. 
How simply, and yet effectively, do the Swiss recall the founda- 
tion of their Confederation ! At the close of day the bells peal 
out on the evening air, while bonfires flame along the mountain 
crests. A few fireworks, an inexpensive illumination here and 
there, with perhaps a few words from some speaker on national 
history and duty, complete the program. In the summer of 
1905, all Belgium, for over one month, was in festival attire on 
the anniversary of her independence. Street processions, illu- 
minations by night, bunting and banners by day, children's 
parades, outings in the country, and a great exposition at Liege, 
were some of the features of this season of rejoicing. At Brussels 
great crowds gathered at evening, in the square before the H6tel 
de Ville, to listen to music, and to watch a marvelous display of 
colored fires on the fagade and in the richly sculptured tower of 
that building. 

An Italian immigrant, a native of a small town on the Riviera, 
told the writer with great enthusiasm of the care with which 
their popular celebrations were planned. A committee had the 
entire affair in charge. In the evening, fireworks were set off, at 
a specially selected point of vantage, so as to secure a multifold 
reflection in the waters of the Mediterranean. Here is certainly 
an improvement on the promiscuous discharge of rockets, Roman 
candles, bombs, and other pyrotechnics, in our American cities. 

The skill of French and Germans in organizing and executing 
elaborate and satisfying programs on national fest days is too 
well-known to call for more than a mention. In England, at 
present, there is a strong tendency toward the use of pageantry. 
This particular form of display met with conspicuous success at 
the exercises commemorating the three hundredth anniversary 
of the founding of Quebec. The Welsh make much of choral 
singing, and at their annual Eisteddfodd use with effect the ritual 
of Druidic worship. 

American communities may well begin the campaign for a 
better July Fourth by the introduction of some features of 
European festal days. Springfield has found that her citizens of 
foreign birth are ready to cooperate, and thus the very spirit of 



13 



the Old World may be felt here on the soil of the New. Pa- 
geantry is a most promising departure, and affords a good ground 
for common effort. There are two methods for such a display, 
one the procession of floats through the streets, the other a series 
of tableaux presented on some woodland glade as a stage. Bos- 
ton proposes at her next Fourth of July to use the great stadium 
at Harvard for a representation of Colonial and Revolutionary 
times The use of public parks as forest theatres has this ad- 
vantage: that people are there brought into a restful and in- 
vigorating environment, safe for children, and giving genume 
recreation to the adult. Hartford made a notable success of 
historical tableaux at the dedication of her bridge m October, 
1008 At college commencements, much is made of the out- 
door drama. Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, and Vassar have won 
distinction in this field. 

The street parade, on the other hand, brings the spectacle 
before a greater number of people than could be accommodated 
in any sylvan amphitheatre, and affords opportunity for martial 
music and the display of banners, colors, and decorations along 
the line of march. Then there is a certain stately impressiveness 
in the steady onward motion of a procession, and this makes its 
own appeal to the senses and emotions. Possibly a combination 
of tableaux and parade may prove the most available form of 
pageantry in holiday celebrations. 

Music, instrumental and vocal, including that of chiming 
bells is a mode of expressing feeling and aspiration to which 
careful attention should be paid. Our bands and orchestras are 
winning distinction, and the quality shows steady improvement. 
Our smaller towns and cities do not, as yet, enjoy such excellent 
music as is heard in the gardens and public squares of Germany 
from regimental players. But there is abundant material where- 
by concerts can be given at important centers in any community, 
■ and such an element promotes a festival spirit. As for chimes 
to make articulate the voice of the city, one has but to recall the 
thrill of emotion and the myriad memories stirred into hfe by the 
peaHng bells of London, Paris, Rome, or Edinburgh on some 
f^te-day, or the wondrous dreams evoked at eventide by the 
melodies from the Court of Honor at Chicago. , 

'Tis the Bells of Shandon, 

They sound so grand on 
The pleasant waters 

Of the River Lee. 



M 

Here is the opportunity for the public-minded man to erect a 
memorial that will truly enrich his city by making its very 
air vibrant with joy. 

Another large field for development is that of choral or mass- 
singing. On special occasions, particularly in religious meetings, 
a multitude of people will sing with zest and enthusiasm. In 
public gatherings in the open air, it is rare to find any disposition 
or ability to join effectively in the rendering of patriotic songs 
and hymns. This failure results from lack of training and 
practice, with consequent timidity, the poverty of suitable music 
of high grade, and ignorance of the selections already at our 
command. It is doubtful if any general gathering could sing all 
the stanzas of "My Country, 'tis of Thee", or of "The Star 
Spangled Banner". Churches, schools, singing societies, and 
fraternal organizations may, by persistent effort, soon bring it to 
pass that young and old shall be familiar with the best festival 
lyrics, and ten or twenty thousand people be able to unite in full- 
throated chorus. Meantime our poets and composers may well 
concern themselves with increasing the number of our national 
songs comparable in quality with those of the old-world peoples. 
Such mass-singing, under skilful conductors, reveals by contrast 
the true hideousness and savagery of the din and uproar of blank 
cartridge and cannon-cracker. For the choral comes out of the 
deep experiences of humanity; it is an expression of struggle, 
hope and triumph, of the fervor of enthusiasm, the glow of 
patriotic ardor, and the aspirations of religion : a hymn of prayer 
and praise. 

The element of instruction must also be considered in the plans 
for a day of such significance as July Fourth. It is highly fitting 
that the thoughts of the people should be turned, in serious mood, 
on the great deeds of the fathers and the present duties of the 
sons. An oration by some one who understands the art of ad- 
dressing a multitude in the open air gives dignity and weight to a 
festival. This part of the program should not be long or 
labored. It should be suggestive and stimulating to thought 
rather than didactic; an appeal to face resolutely and intelli- 
gently the pressing problems of national life. 

When these substantial and essential features of the celebra- 
tion are provided, there is still large room for the skilful selection 
of recreation and entertainment suited to the particular com- 
munity. In some instances athletic contests meet the popular 



IS 

demand. Advantage should be taken of natural features, hills, 
open parks, and river and lake shores. Fireworks can be made 
many times more effective by placing them on some vantage 
point and securing a backgroimd of wood or water. Automobile 
parades, exhibition of local industries, pageantry to show the 
progress of arts and sciences, or of education, may be cited as 
illustrations of possibilities. 

While the holiday has its chief reason for existence in the 
desire for enjoyment and entertainment, and a relief from the 
monotony of daily toil, there are certain practical values worthy 
of attention. The mood of the populace on a properly ordered 
holiday constitutes a psychological opportunity. Impressions 
are easily made, and ideas readily become part of the conscious- 
ness of the individual. It is as if the glow of enthusiasm and the 
ardor of excitement fuse the day's experience and instruction 
into the mental make-up of the participants. Receptive atten- 
tion is most alert. Emotion and sentiment are strong and keen. 
Educationally, Independence Day is an opportunity for pro- 
moting that general intelligence, that right attitude toward 
public questions, and that abiding patriotism and loyalty, on 
which the nation depends for existence. Likewise, such a day 
helps to stimulate and foster a just pride in the city or town; 
no stronger influence can be used to raise the level of community 
Ufe. 

The very union of people of all occupations, interests and 
aptitudes in such an undertaking is in itself a means of education. 
With the growth of cities, concerted organized effort by the in- 
habitants of such places as Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, 
New York, has become almost impossible. It is hard to secure 
any feeling of unity. By proper organization and planning, a 
celebration such as outlined will interest, and occupy all elements 
of a city ; and to work together in such an undertaking is a lesson 
in cooperation and regard for the common weal that carries far- 
reaching results. 

Such union and amalgamation is especially important as 
affecting the many alien elements brought in by immigration. 
With all that has been said of the extent to which our population 
is made up of foreign-bom, one still runs against statistics that 
startle. Lowell, in the state of Massachusetts, has a colony of 
Greeks numbering about seven thousand. There are two thou- 
sand in Boston and two hundred in Springfield. In New York 



i6 

City, representatives of well-nigh every people under heaven are 
to be found. These aliens are in the course of time to become 
members of our body, politic and social. They are eager to play 
their part. July Fourth, Independence Day, may well be a 
festival of humanity, whereon there shall be symbolized the spirit 
of American life, and the rich elements that life may secure from 
those who bring the legends, traditions, and history of a thousand 
years to our shores. 

The Springfield pageant, small as it was, revealed potent 
elements pregnant with human experience, hallowed by mem- 
ories of struggle, defeat and triumphs that are to become a part 
of our own national life and character. The vision of the seer 
of old is made real in our eyes, "and they shall bring the glory 
and the honor of the nations into it". New England especially 
may well rejoice in the enrichment to come to her through the 
warmth of feeling, and skill in the use of form and color brought 
to her from across the sea. 

As a people, we are in the making, plastic, responsive, re- 
ceptive. Such a spirit will take the best among all the influences 
that bear upon it. Our civilization is in a "nascent state", 
with its power of affinity at its strongest, and its capacity for 
assimilation most vigorous. Such occasions as the popular 
festival of Independence Day constitute a rare opportunity to 
minister to the multitude, and rightly to shape and fashion our 
characteristics as a people. No more inspiring or ennobling 
call ever came to mankind. 



A Fourth of July Without Fireworks* 

SOME SAFE AND SANE WAYS TO CELEBRATE THE GREAT 
AMERICAN HOLIDAY 

" A Fourth of July without fireworks ? Never !" 
Can't you fancy you hear the question repeated with amaze- 
ment and answered with the utmost scorn by some active Ameri- 
can boy you know ? Give up his most precious holiday, with all 
the racket that rightfully belongs to it ? Hardly ! 

Yet, after all, is there anybody who would advocate letting 

♦ Reprinted from the "Ladies' Home Journal", June, 1907. 



17 

Independence Day pass without any observance whatever, simply 
because it happened to be utterly impossible to get any fire- 
works ? San Franciscans did not do so after the earthquake in 
1906, when the sale of fireworks in the city was strictly forbidden ; 
on the contrary, they had a capital celebration. With a splendid 
military and naval parade to Golden Gate Park, a flag-raising, 
while thousands of children sang "The Star-Spangled Banner", 
the reading of the Declaration, athletic contests in which the 
victors received prizes and were crowned with laurel — with all 
these things to make them happy the people did not miss the 
fireworks at all. 

See What a Good Time People in Oregon Had 
But if other people should not care to copy exactly the ex- 
ample which San Francisco's calamity forced her to set, what sort 
of holiday could they have without fireworks ? This is a natural 
question, and the best answer is to tell just what has been done 
where the people were determined to have a good time, without 
taking any risk of deadly explosions. Here, then, is the story 
of a successful celebration in Portland, Oregon: 

"Cash prizes were promised for the best-decorated home, 
store, public building, carriage, automobile, etc. Committees 
were appointed to look after details. Through the aid of news- 
papers all people were reached. Firms that would otherwise have 
contributed for fireworks expended the same amount in other 
ways. Some job printers distributed facsimiles of the Declara- 
tion of Independence; a hardware store gave bells; a piano 
house, sheet-music — 'America', 'The Star Spangled Banner', 
'Hail, Columbia!'; and so on through a long list. Trumpets, 
bunting, ribbons, hat-bands, flags, badges, etc., were offered 
freely. 

"When the day arrived, to remind us of those first heroic peals 
of long ago, from early morning until late at night all bells were 
ringing — first here, then there; one close at hand, then an echo 
in the distance. Every man, woman and child wore our national 
colors in some form. The children carried horns and drums, 
and used them, tod ! Every vehicle of any sort bore the colors 
in flags, flowers or bunting. Street-car and railroad companies 
vied with each other in making their cars attractive. From 
every building waved our national colors. On hundreds of 
lawns flag-poles had seemingly sprung up in a night. 



i8 

"There was a grand parade in the forenoon, in which all 
things were in keeping with the day. Each individual in that 
long line proclaimed America. In the afternoon our patriotism 
was expressed in sweet tones, either singly or in concord. Bands 
played, trumpets sounded, instruments of all kinds were heard. 
There was music in the streets, in the homes, in the parks — every- 
where. 

" But in the evening came the crowning glory of it all. Where 
waved our flag before, now shone forth red, white and blue lights. 
Where electric lights were available the spirit of competition 
led to great display. Homes and buildings were illuminated. 
Lawns of both great and small dimensions added their quota of 
fancy lanterns ; the parks were veritable fairylands. Best of all, 
in almost every gathering during the day the national airs were 
sung ; and even where there was no musical accompaniment the 
voices rang strong and true. We were units in the great whole 
that goes to make up the United States of America. We heard 
it ! We saw it ! We felt it ! We were proud of it !" 

Certainly, there was nothing dull or slow in that celebration of 
Independence Day, and nothing dangerous ! It appears to have 
been, from beginning to end, a happy day for everybody. 

A Town of "Minute-men" and "Molly Pitchers" 

In a western town where a canvass showed that in five him- 
dred families an average of three dollars a family had been spent 
for fireworks, a committee easily persuaded each family to con- 
tribute a dollar and a quarter to a general fund for celebrating 
the Fourth. Prizes were offered for the most effective decora- 
tions of houses and places of business, and the result was most 
gratifying. The boys of the village, clad in a brown drilling 
uniform resembling the homespun of the Revolutionary period, 
and bearing wooden guns, were organized into companies of 
"Minute-men"; the girls, in white, with red caps and blue 
sashes, armed with brooms, were formed into a "Molly Pitcher" 
brigade. The physical instructor at a gymnasium in a near-by 
city drilled them. 

On the morning of the Fourth, Paul Revere dashed through 
the streets on a Shetland pony, sounding an alarm. Instantly 
"Minute-men" came hurrying from all directions to meet at the 
public square, where they were joined by the "Molly Pitchers". 
After a drill they paraded, led by a boys' drum corps. 



19 

At noon all went to the park, where long tables were laid, 
and everybody sat down to the feast in family groups. After 
the tables were removed another procession was formed, led by 
the "Minute-men", followed by the "Molly Pitchers", and the 
yotmg men and women of the town in costumes representing 
Revolutionary and Colonial characters. John Alden was there 
with Priscilla and Miles Standish ; Evangeline diligently searched 
for her lover; Betsy Ross stitched her flag; Martha and George 
Washington maintained a suitable dignity; Patrick Henry was 
there, and Thomas Jefferson carried the Declaration here and 
there, seeking signers; Benjamin Franklin strolled about with 
long rolls of bread under his arm; and Aaron Burr and Alexander 
Hamilton could only with the greatest difficulty be kept from 
dueling. After posing for innumerable pictures the merry party 
broke up. 

The entire cost of this celebration, to the committee, was 
about six hundred and twenty-five dollars. This included the 
uniforms for both boys and girls, guns and brooms, decorations 
at the park, ice cream and lemonade for the whole party, and the 
fee and expenses of the man who drilled the young folks. Every- 
thing was so satisfactory that nobody mourned the absence of 
fireworks. 

How THE Declaration is Made to Appear Very Real 

For several years a small New York town has made the 
Fourth a day of annual reunion and home-coming ; a day whose 
main attractions are a parade, an entertainment and a basket 
picnic in the morning, athletic contests in the afternoon and a 
band concert at night. The officers are chosen at a meeting of 
the citizens some months before. Two weeks in advance posters 
are put up all over town and along country roads, giving a 
complete list of the day's events. 

At ten o'clock on the morning of the Fourth the procession 
leaves the town square. It is headed by the marshal. Then 
follow the town band, the firemen, carriages containing the town 
officers and Board of Education, a carryall loaded with the High 
School Glee Club, mounted men, and a long array of children 
dressed in all sorts of patriotic costumes, humorous and other- 
wise. 

The entertainment which follows the parade, and is held in 
the park or largest church, varies from year to year. It may 



include choruses, a reading of parts of the Declaration, a flag 
drill by the children, appropriate recitations and a speech. Or, 
if the program consists chiefly of what is termed "A Mock Sign- 
ing of the Declaration", the signers are all present in correct 
costume; they engage in an orderly but heated discussion, which 
is as much like the original as possible; the document is properly 
signed, the town bell rings out the glad news, and cannon on the 
outskirts boom the tidings to all the surrounding country. 

After the basket picnic the people flock to the ball-ground to 
witness various races, open to all, and an exciting baseball game. 
The evening band concert consists of patriotic airs and is given 
from a band stand ablaze with red, white and blue electric lights. 

Fireworks Missed? Not at All 

In still another town, on the Fourth the main street was 
spanned by arches and gayly decorated with American flags and 
bunting of red, white and blue. Here and there booths were 
placed, where ice cream and refreshing cold drinks were sold, as 
well as coffee and sandwiches. There were also two or three 
band stands, where patriotic music was played throughout the 
day. 

The program was started with a balloon ascension, after 
which there was a tug-of-war between men of the town and those 
of a neighboring village ; then there was a foot-race for fat men, 
one for boys and one for girls, a three-legged race, a wheel- 
barrow race, and besides these there were jumping contests. 
The volunteer firemen also gave an exhibition. 

At noon the Declaration of Independence was read from a 
stand in the central part of the town. An oration was also given. 
After this the people joined in singing national songs, led by a 
choir under the direction of a singing-master. Then came a 
parade, with about two hundred little girls leading, all wearing 
red, white and blue dresses, and each carrying a little parasol 
of the same colors and decked with tricolored ribbons. Behind 
them came about the same number of little boys wearing caps of 
red, white and blue, and each holding a small flag. Then a 
large number of wagons passed in review, containing tableaux 
illustrating different incidents in the history of our country. 

In the evening the main street was lighted on each side by 
hundreds of red, white and blue paper lanterns, and bunting 
was put around the electric street-lamps to give a patriotic effect. 



21 



About nine o'clock the street was cleared and the bell in the 
tower of the town hall began ringing. Immediately a horse came 
galloping furiously down the street. On his back was a rider 
with cocked hat and braided hair, and booted and spurred. 
Here and there he stopped and shouted to the people, and finally 
he dashed off down the road into the darkness. This incident 
represented Paul Revere's famous ride. The celebration ended 
with an assembly in the town hall, all present being dressed in 
Colonial costume, and the hall gayly decorated with flags. 

The "No-Fireworks" Idea is Spreading Rapidly 
These are not isolated cases— not at all ; for the feeling against 
the use of fireworks appears to be widespread. In a North Caro- 
lina town last year the feature of the day was a parade of more 
than a hundred floats, carriages, and automobiles. It was a 
dazzling spectacle, as clubs, societies, business firms and in- 
dividuals all did their best to make the day memorable. Every- 
where in the procession there were flags. The forenoon was 
occupied with the parade; then there was an oration, followed 
by a dinner; a parade of firemen, with sports, in the afternoon, 
and in the evening a lawn party and band concert. Everybody 
was contented. 

See what was done in a city in Texas! It was too warm to 
plan for much in the daytime, but early in the evening five 
hundred children marched, clad in white, with tricolored bands 
draped over their shoulders, and carrying garlands of bright 
flowers. On the school-ground these garlands were used with 
Maypole effect, while from the top of the pole floated the Ameri- 
can flag. There was a hush as a man clad in Colonial costume 
mounted a platform and, by the aid of two ancient horn lanterns 
held by " Minute-men", read the Declaration. Then came sing- 
ing, tableaux, stirring music played by a band, while the children 
marched by, each carrying a representation of the Liberty Bell, 
and formed a "living flag"; moving pictures illustrating Revo- 
lutionary scenes, dancing of the old-fashioned minuet on the 
green, and finally more tableaux. Something here worth re- 
membering; something that will be remembered for years, while 
fireworks would have been forgotten in a month — unless some 
disaster had resulted. 

In California quite naturally floral fetes may take the place 
of noisy celebrations, and as they appear to be satisfactory there. 



no good reason is apparent why they should not be copied in 
other parts of the country. In one town in the middle West 
thirteen houses were used to represent the original states, some- 
thing appropriate to each state being done at each home. This 
novel idea proved most interesting. In some places historical 
plays have been given in open-air theatres in the daytime, and 
tea-parties, with stereopticon views, in the evening. A school- 
master in the South had the girls form a glee club and the boys a 
drum corps, and when the Fourth came they gave a concert at 
which one of their mates, personating Patrick Henry, made a 
speech, and another read the Declaration. In another place, at 
a picnic, George Washington rode up with his staff, made an 
address, and watched a ball game played by Continentals and 
Redcoats; and in still another, three families set up three tents 
and had a glorious time giving what they called a circus, hiring 
a hurdy-gurdy for the day, and allowing the children money to 
buy peanuts, lemonade, toy balloons, and so on, as well as to 
have a hand in the performance. 

Be Fair to the Boys and Don't Ask Too Much 

One thing is certain: if the boys are expected to give up their 
fireworks it is only fair that they should have something very 
good instead. They like athletic contests; so arrange ball 
games between nines representing different parts of the town, 
ball-throwing competitions, foot and bicycle races, cricket and 
tennis matches, archery contests and other things of this sort. 
Offer prizes in all cases. That is a most important point. But 
the total amount required to do this well will be only a trifle 
as compared with the money usually spent for fireworks. Send 
up toy balloons, each having a card attached bearing a promise 
of good rewards for the first three cards returned, and many 
children will ask for no better fun than to chase and search for 
the balloons for hours. Let the boys, under proper supervision, 
have a hand in ringing the church bells. Girls may find a certain 
mild excitement in striving for prizes for the best exhibits of red, 
white and blue flowers to be made at some appointed place on the 
Fourth. Lawn parties, too, will please them, especially if they 
may attend in costume. At such parties the benches and tables 
should be appropriately draped in colors, and lanterns should be 
plentiful if it is to be an evening event. There should be played 
at gatherings of this sort American music only. 



23 

Whatever form the celebration of the national anniversary 
may take, there should be something done to bring to the re- 
membrance all the stirring events which led up to and followed 
the Declaration. A military parade serves well, particularly if 
the column includes thirteen girls dressed in white, with red, 
white and blue sashes, to represent the original states— or 
possibly forty-six, to represent all the states. But even if there 
can be no military show there may at least be music ; plenty of it, 
all day long, and in as many places as possible. And there should 
be flags everywhere. Many people who have the national 
colors forget to display them. At night, to make up in some 
degree for the absence of fireworks, let houses be illuminated and 
bonfires blaze. A little money from each one, a little planning, a 
little care and a great deal of enthusiasm will bring about a 
celebration of the Fourth that will be so lively and satisfactory in 
every way that those who growl because there are no fireworks 
will be laughed at by the big majority who have had a fine day 
without any. 

Keep These Little Hints in Mind When You Make Your 
Fourth of July Plans 

Bonfires Living flags Burlesque features 

Floral fetes Bell ringing Moving pictures 

Bugle calls Archery contests Torchlight parades 

Enact the signing of the Declaration. 

If there are chimes, have "America" played. 

Keep piano-music going all over town. 

Fifers and drummers to march in Continental^ costume. 

Print patriotic songs on cards for free distribution. 

Sing these songs at all the band concerts. 

Have strings of lanterns across the streets. 

Make it a home-coming day: a family reunion day. 

Let boys have a camp-fire and cook, their dinner. 

An automobile parade at night would be a pretty feature. 

Send up small balloons with "reward" post-cards attached. 

Have an athletic contest between Uncle Sam and John Bull. 

Free entertainments in halls would go far to make children 

happy. 
A porch may be used as a stage, and little folks give an entertam- 

ment there. 
Exhibit war relics in the town hall: swords, flags, pictures, 

letters, etc. 
Each one of thirteen houses to represent one of the original 

states. 



24 

Use red, white and blue or blue and yellow candles for lights in 
the evening. 

Children like to put on uniforms and march. Let them, if they 
will go without fireworks. 

At the sunrise flag-raising have a lot of little flags rolled up to 
drop out of the big one. 

Wherever there is water have a water fete: canoes decorated; 
swimming matches and other aquatic sports; lanterns, 
torches, music; bridges and rafts illuminated. 

Good subjects for tableaux are: Washington taking command of 
the American Army; Betsy Ross making the American 
flag; the Boston Tea Party; signing the Declaration; 
Washington's farewell to his officers. 

About town have banners bearing such inscriptions as: 
"Give me liberty or give me death." 
"Independence now and independence forever." 
" Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable." 
"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the 
inhabitants thereof." , 



How One Town Spends the Fourth 



* 



By Inez J. Gardner 

The celebration of the Fourth of July is a vexed question. 
Some places have endeavored to reform the observance of the 
day; they make everything orderly, but in so doing subdue the 
holiday so much that the onlooker in general is disappointed at 
its lack of spirit. Other localities may let the day go hit or miss; 
in such a celebration the boys perhaps have a good time, but 
what with the continued confusion and racket, many people are 
glad when it is at last over. Other places, however, have been 
successful in hitting a happy medium, and among them a little 
New England town has worked out a plan which is a patriotic 
carnival. The day is observed in a stirring and yet systematic 
manner; everybody is included and everybody has a good time. 
The town has accomplished this result by taking the customs 
already existing in the town as a way of celebration and making 
better things out of them. It has accomplished this, too, by 
having every class and every age of its citizens take part in the 
day's program. 

♦ Reprinted from the "Ladies' Home Journal", June, 1908. 



25 

The motto of this common merry-making is " Everybody chip 
in", "Everybody chip in" is printed at the top of envelopes 
that are sent around to every house in town, and underneath the 
heading there runs some such word as this: 

"This is our celebration, all of us, men, women and children. 
We can all take part ; we can all give a little ; we can all welcome 
strangers; each can beautify his own premises; each can be 
present at the sports ; each can do what is required of him by the 
committees. Please explain this to the children and put a 
penny in the envelope for each child in your house. Give what 
you can yourself. The envelope will be collected on such a day 
by so-and-so. Give it to nobody else." 

And with the money which is collected the committee makes 
ready for the good time. 

Boys and Girls are on the Committees 
The committee which has the day in charge is a standing one, 
existing from year to year, so that the celebration of the day shall 
be a regular and not a spasmodic entertainment. It consists of 
a president, a secretary and a treasurer, and comprises the presi- 
dents of all the societies and clubs in town and the chief of the 
fire department. Some weeks ahead the committee maps out 
the broad plan for the day and appoints a number of sub- 
committees, one to have the parade in charge, another the sports, 
a committee to supply drinking water, a Red Cross Committee, 
a Costume Committee, and several others. The sub-com- 
mittees work out their several plans, estimating the expense, and 
report at a general meeting of all the committees. The money is 
there apportioned. The committees are very broad. Young 
boys and girls are among the members. The community has a 
majority population of the fine farming element of early days, 
with an admixture of all the races which today make up the list 
of citizens of a manufacturing town of the better class. 

As in every town, the boys were active youngsters who 
planned trouble days ahead, and in spite of police patrol were 
usually able to build good-sized bonfires out of somebody's gate 
and fences and to clang the bells in all the steeples; these bo3^s 
were drafted into a committee to ring the bells and bum the 
bonfire in good order. 

"Look here," the General Committee said, approaching the 
ringleaders of the boys, "we know that little game of yours of 
ringing the bells. Go ahead. We like to hear them. But why 
don't you ring them in style?" 



26 

When the boys realized that they were to be responsible for 
the bell-ringing, that everybody knew they were going to do it 
and expected it should be done right, there were none more 
anxious than they to have it done as well as possible. They were 
impressed with the dignity of their position as announcers of 
the day to the town at large. They were also the best night 
patrol that could be had, for they were jealous of their honors 
and saw to it very thoroughly that none of the other boys got 
in and rang the bells ahead of time. Upon suggestion, they 
waited on the sextons of the churches and asked leave to ring 
the bells, and visited the lumber yards and mills and asked for 
waste wood for "the Bonfire Committee that we're members 
of." And since the mill and lumber-yard managers and church 
sextons had been forewarned that the visits were in good faith, 
the interviews were gratifying to dignity all around. The boys 
built their bonfires and rang the bells in one fell sound at a very 
fair hour. 

The Parade is a Mardi Grab Carnival 

The town has made a Mardi Gras out of its "Antiques and 
Horribles" parade and has transposed it from the early morning 
hour to noon, when it is a part of the general parade. Just as the 
attitude toward the boys was to help them to do well what they 
really wished to do but had done badly, the attitude toward the 
early-morning ' ' Horribles ' ' procession was that it was the spirit 
of merry-making gone wrong. A thing to be funny must be 
systematic, not a disorderly thing done in a disorderly way. 
So now the edict goes out from the General Committee that 
everyone who intends to have a float or take part in the " Hor- 
ribles" parade shall submit his plan to the Parade Committee. 
Everyone is urged and encouraged to make as funny and as good 
a thing as possible. The committee assists if it can, and as every 
part and ever}'- club of the town are represented on the committee 
the whole town is drawn on for supplies, attics are ransacked for 
treasures and teams are lent wholesale. The result is attractive 
and witty. Reports of the celebration have spread and visitors 
from near-by towns come yearly to witness the grand procession. 

It is not to be imagined that the Fourth in that town is 
tame nor that the unexpected does not happen. Such a drum 
corps as this was devised and put upon the streets one year by the 
citizens: About twenty young men were drilled by a skilled 



w 27 

drummer of the town so that they could beat a good stroke. 
They practised half a mile out of town, because their improvised 
instruments were considerably louder than the ordinary make. 
Their drums were nail-kegs with the hoops nailed on for secur- 
ity's sake and with tin pans for heads. Chair-rounds from a 
furniture store served for drumsticks and a piece of clothes- 
line for a drum cord. The bass drum was a sugar-barrel 
with sheet-iron heads, inside of which were hung various pieces 
of metal to add to the sound. When this was pounded with 
wooden mallets the effect was sufficiently "bass" to contrast 
with the nail-keg drums. The noise of the corps was like thunder. 
Their boom could be heard a long way before them as they came 
up the street, and the spectators crowded on the sidewalks 
wondered where the cannon were ! Steadily they boomed their 
march for the whole procession to step by — the mounted mar- 
shals and soldiers, the veterans, the "Antiques" and the long 
line of decorated carts and carriages — and coming in sight their 
sound grew louder and louder, until as they passed the crowds of 
spectators it seemed to each surprised individual that their boom 
fairly cracked the air. There was nothing slovenly about them. 
They beat good time. To heighten their impression the drum- 
mers were all dressed in Uncle Sam costumes, with green, sugar- 
loaf hats fully two feet high, and wore automobile goggles and 
false noses. Their leader was a man over six feet tall. 

The demonstration of the Poles in the last Fourth of July 
parade is an illustration of the way the people cooperate in the 
day. Usually the Poles in a manufacturing town keep by them- 
selves in one community, work hard in the mills, and when they 
do celebrate, at a wedding or some other festival, overdo it and 
get into disrepute with their neighbors. This time they were 
put upon their pride. "Why don't you fellows do something? 
Everybody is going to," the General Committee suggested to 
them. A hundred men among the Poles thereupon proudly 
set to work in secret and drilled themselves into a company. 
Out of their ordinary laboringman's wages they hired uniforms 
and a band, and appeared, to everyone's surprise, in military 
order. By nature a military people, they did splendidly, were 
the handsomest feature of the day, and drew first prize. 

The Whole Town is Represented 

Big and little stores are represented in the civic parade. The 
big mills and large business houses put out an especially hand- 



28 

some effort, and all the societies in town, each of which has a 
delegate on the General Committee in charge of the day, send 
representatives into the line. Smaller business places show 
themselves. A German shoemaker, who is owner and sole 
employee in a one-room store, appeared on a float hung with 
shoes of his own making and with hides, sat on a bench in the 
middle of the float and pegged shoes all the way around the 
course. A village blacksmith set his anvil and forge upon a 
drag and joined the procession, pounding away at the red-hot 
iron and shaping shoes. The whole town, little and big, is 
represented. The various business houses pay their just pro- 
portion in the da5^'s expenses and no more. 

The Parade Committee takes boys between sixteen and 
twenty years of age who want some part in the line of march and 
drills them in companies in military step. The town tailor cuts 
out a pattern suit, perhaps a humorous one, for each committee, 
and a Uniform Committee of women and girls cuts out the suits 
from varicolored cheesecloth or bunting. The boys then take 
the costumes home to be sewed, or if they have no one to do it 
the Uniform Committee makes them. On the great day itself the 
boys are reviewed by army men and the company doing the best 
draws a prize. All the bo3^s, however, are decorated with badges. 

One year, the numerous small boys who usually follow a pro- 
cession with eager, padding feet and longing eyes, but who have 
nothing more to do for a general celebration on the Fourth than 
to singe their fingers with firecrackers, were given a share in the 
parade and organized a " Coxey's Army". As they were small 
they were not drilled in marching, but were told to appear in 
their old clothes an hour before the procession started. Any 
boy who came dressed up was sent back for his oldest togs. 
The boys were then blackened up, armed with big wooden swords, 
and muskets all out of proportion to each urchin's small size, 
and grouped in detachments. The divisions were headed by as 
big men as could be got hold of, each man wearing a gorgeous 
fancy-dress costume. Every small boy who paraded behind 
such a gorgeous leader and with a gun over his shoulder felt that 
he had indeed celebrated the Fourth. 

Houses of the Sick are Marked 

The Red Cross Committee, one of the sub-committees, is 
most appreciated by the sick or invalids to whom it is almost a 



29 

necessity that the day be a quiet one. This committee divides 
the town into sections and sends out its members to find out 
the houses where sickness is. The day before the Fourth the 
doors of the households that desire it are marked with cards 
bearing a red cross. The adults in that neighborhood are then 
asked to keep the children as quiet as possible and not to cele- 
brate in that vicinity. 

Other committees, too, look out for the general comfort on 
that day. The Drinking- Water Committee places barrels of 
water with drinking-cups attached at intervals along the streets 
where the crowd will be largest, and keeps them filled during 
the day. A large Hospitality Committee is organized of people 
of every rank and of old and young. The members look out for 
the welfare of visitors who come in from surrounding towns, 
place settees at street comers and keep chapels and vestry-rooms 
of churches open, so that the tired can go in and rest. Some of 
the churches serve dinners at a low rate for the holiday crowds. 

After some years of attempting a systematic Fourth of 
July the townspeople have achieved one worth while. The 
midday march on the Fourth is an event which the citizens 
themselves look forward to and which attracts numbers of 
visitors, so good is it in color, so cleverly costumed and so well 
done throughout. While the};^ foster the town spirit in the day, 
their great aim is to have everything well done. If their own 
town band is not a good one they do not engage it, but hire a 
better one. They get competent judges to inspect their parade, 
so that not even the small boy shall be defrauded of a just judg- 
ment on his merits. They offer the usual games, sports and 
speeches and give a large number of prizes. The program of the 
day's events is tastefully printed and has on it the story of the 
Declaration of Independence. 



Celebrating the Fourth in Large Cities* 

Lee F. Hanmer 

Associate Director of the Department of Child Hygiene of the Russell Sage Foundation 

The large cities have Fourth of July problems to deal with 
that the small cities know not of. The pageant, the central 
meeting, the play picnic, the folk dances and the games, that are 
possible in the smaller cities, where all may come together and 
the majority take part, are not possible where the population 
runs from 250,000 into the millions. 

New York City in deciding to prohibit the sale and use of 
fireworks from June 10 to July 10 is thereby brought face to face 
with the problem of providing some kind of a substitute. If 
the day is to retain and further develop its proper significance 
as our greatest American holiday, it is evident that something 
must be done to keep before the boys and girls and the public in 
general, particularly before those who have recently come to our 
shores, the ideals for which the day stands. To undertake in 
the large cities a program such as St. Paul, Springfield, Pitts- 
field, and others have used with success would be an enormous 
task and could only be carried out at the sacrifice of a large 
amount of time and money. Even then it would by no means 
reach all sections of the city as the celebrations in the smaller 
places do. 

The only alternative seems to be celebrations in many sec- 
tions of the city, and the problem is: First, who shall take charge 
of such celebrations; second, who shall participate, and third, 
what shall the character of the celebrations be. 

In order to bring about any systematic observance of the 
day and to get the necessary concessions from the city depart- 
ments, it would, no doubt, be well to have a central committee 
appointed by the mayor to receive suggestions and formulate 
and carry out a plan. That committee should include the 
superintendent of schools, the park commissioner or com- 
missioners, the heads of playground or athletic organizations, a 
representative of the social settlements, representatives of the 
clergy, representatives of military organizations, the police 
commissioner and several other public spirited citizens. This 
♦ Reprinted from "The Playgroiond," May, 1910. 



31 

committee might encourage the formation of sub-committees in 
various sections of the city, the chairmen of these sub-committees 
to be members of the central committee. 

The usual plan of having the pageants and parades where the 
people sit or stand and the spectacle passes by, might well be 
reversed by arranging to have schools, settlements, Sunday 
schools, clubs and other organizations and societies present 
programs of songs, drills, folk dances and tableaux in many parts 
of the city. The Park Department might agree to erect plat- 
forms or assign park spaces for these exhibitions and grant 
permits for their use to organizations in the order in which the 
applications are made. The city, through its central committee, 
should undertake to furnish music for these groups and the local 
sub-committee provide the master of ceremonies. Each program 
might consist of something like the following: 

lO A. M. 

Patriotic music 

Reading of the Declaration of Independence, and In- 
dependence Day orations 
Patriotic music 
Tableaux 

Folk dances (many nationalities represented) 
Patriotic music 

Flag drill and salute to the flag 
Tableaux 
Music, "America" 

12 o'clock to 12.15 

At exactly twelve o'clock have a salute fired from 
' the guns at the forts or arsenals, immediately followed by 
the ringing of bells and blowing of whistles all over the 
city for fifteen minutes. In -order that there might be 
something spectacular in which every child could take 
part, some such plan might be followed as the release of 
toy balloons with small American flags attached, by all 
the children at the instant at which the salute is fired. 
This could be made even more impressive by having the 
bands play "The Star Spangled Banner" and everybody 
join in the singing. 

The schools could aid greatly in the preparation of such 



32 

programs by drilling the children on the songs that were to be 
used on that occasion. In many schools the flag salute is part 
of the morning assembly program. Consequently the children 
are familiar with it. 

Afternoon. 

The afternoon could well be given to picnics, games 
and excursions, as clubs, organizations or individuals 
might desire. 

Evening 

Municipal fireworks in charge of the central com- 
mittee. 

In New York this fireworks display should take place in 
several sections of the city, such as from the Queensboro and 
Manhattan Bridges, on floats in the Bay, and on floats in the 
North River, opposite about 23rd Street and looth Street. 
This would remove all possible danger of fires and make it 
possible for practically the whole city to witness the celebration. 
The tableaux used at the exhibitions throughout the city 
should represent scenes typical of American Independence and 
of historical occurrences significant of similar events in foreign 
countries. Thus all nationalities would have a part in the day 
and make their contribution to the celebration of liberty and 
independence. 

Some of the subjects for tableaux might be: 

Signing of the Declaration of Independence 

The spirit of '76 

Signing the Treaty 

The surrender of Lord Comwallis 

Washington's farewell to his officers 

The Boston Tea Party 

William Tell and Gessler 

The fall of the Bastile 

The victory of Bannockbum 

Garibaldi and his followers 
The expense of such a celebration to the city would not be 
great, being nothing more than that of providing music at the 
various centers and the evening display of fireworks. The day 
could thus be made inspiring and significant and would be free 
from the annoyances and accidents that have been characteristic 
of celebrations in the past. 



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